The Fourth Apprentice

Narrator Tips: The monsters the cats see are two parked trucks that the Twolegs have used to haul their ATVs up to the cabin. The Twolegs are now out riding the ATVs in the meadow, so the cabin is mostly quiet. However, sleeping in one of the truck beds is a dog who was left here to guard the trucks and other gear.

At first, you should describe the scene as being very quiet. Tell the players that if their cats cross the yard and go behind the Twoleg nest, they should be able to continue up to the top of the hill. Also tell them that the monsters here are completely silent and still. Have the cats cross the yard, and ask them to each make a Smell Check to see if they notice anything odd. (Players may also ask if their cats can try other Checks like See or Listen, and you should certainly let them. However, those Skills will not reveal any further information—the dog is completely hidden from sight and although it’s asleep, it isn’t snoring.)

If the total is 5 or lower, the cats notice that the monsters don’t smell as bad as they do when they’re traveling on the Thunderpath, but they do still smell pretty awful. If the total is 6 or higher, they also notice the scent of a dog coming from on the back of one of the monsters.

If the cats cross the yard without taking any special precautions, there’s a very good chance that the dog will wake up. Flip a coin twice. If it comes up heads on either flip the dog is awake. If the cats are at all noisy while crossing the yard—goofing around or, worse, talking loudly to one another—the dog should automatically wake up.

If the cats try to move stealthily across the yard, have them each make a Sneak Check. Add the totals from all the Checks together to get a group total. If that group total is equal to or higher than the number of cats x4, then they get across safely; otherwise, the dog has woken up. (Do not count the Narrator’s cat in this total, only the cats of the players who are actively participating in the scene.) For example, if there are four cats actively trying to go across the yard, the group total of all their Sneak Checks must be 16 or higher (4 x 4 = 16) or the dog will wake up.

What Happens Next: If the cats get across safely, continue with 5.

If the dog wakes up, continue with 22.

If the cats decide to go into the woods toward where the monster noises are coming from, continue with 4.

If the cats decide to take the route by the river instead, continue with 6.

If the cats decide to go directly into the deep part of the woods, continue with 7.

11. At a Safer Distance

Special Note: If the players arrive here because some of the cats fell into the water, explain that their cats have realized this is the only safe way to follow the river. If they would rather follow one of the other paths, continue with the choices at the end of scene 2, but tell them that they’ve lost almost half a day because of this delay.

Read Aloud: “The hill is steep, but traveling by the edge of the woods is much easier than crawling over the river rocks. However, from this vantage point you can no longer see the water.“

Narrator Tips: As the cats go farther up the hill, the terrain gets rockier and they have to go around some boulders. It is easy, while doing this, to get turned around and lose track of where the river is. You should describe how the large stones and thick woods mix and overlap to create cliffs and roadblocks and detours that make it difficult to keep a good sense of direction. It’s not even always clear which way is up the hill because of little groves and valleys that form in these remote places.

The group should have one cat take the lead. That cat must make a Ponder Check to see if he or she can correctly follow the path.

What Happens Next: If the Ponder Check total is 6 or lower, the cats are lost. Continue with 14.

If the Ponder Check total is 7 or higher, the cats have successfully followed the river to its source. Continue with 5.

12. Knocked Out!

Special Note: There is no Read Aloud section for this scene. If the cats have ended up here, it is because one or more of them have been Knocked Out or otherwise been so damaged that the group cannot continue.

Narrator Tips: It is up to you, as Narrator, to describe the results that led the cats to this end. If one or more of them get Knocked Out in the river, were their friends able to pull them from the water at the bottom of the hill or were they washed downstream to some unknown fate? If they were beaten in combat, do they manage to stagger back to their Clan camps or are they now wounded rogues in a strange territory? Were they captured by Twolegs and imprisoned in one of their nests?